Jerusalem-based composer and five string bassist Yosef Gutman is releasing albums at quite a rate with this latest, coming hot on the heels of the collaboration with Peter Broderick. Here, with a quintet that includes regular friends Omri Mor on piano, Tal Yahalom on guitar and Yoed Nir on cello, it takes a further heartfelt look at some more of the nigunim that have arisen during Yosef’s spiritual wanderings along with a few pieces of a more personal bent.
Where this quintet differs from previous line-ups is the addition of Itamar Doari on percussion who, having spent three years in India, brings a certain crisp snap to the rhythms. Partly using ceramic percussion, these rhythms have a clarity that is further enhanced by the exacting production.
Omri’s piano is the prevailing instrument, dictating a melancholic dash on opener “Ani L’Dodi, v’Dodi Li”. The flurry of violin and the taut percussion evoke a different world, with the piano reflecting a golden light that bathes the other players and is then reflected back. The folky purity of “Kumi Lach” highlights their the players’ mysterious land; the cello and violin are kindly partners with a soft guitar gambolling adrift on the breeze. There is a freedom shared by all here and a devotion to the music that, although it comes from an idea of Yosef’s, is coloured in and completed by the rest of the players.
A kind of romantic despair pervades “Rachamim Rabim” as they find beauty in unexpected places, and here and there I kept hearing coincidental echoes of Western melodies. Purely by chance I know, but those familiar moments make you appreciate the mysterious Eastern nature even more and perhaps the care that the players show for the spiritual significance of the pieces also sets this album apart. There is a touch of percussive abstraction on “Shuvi Shuvi” and that gauzy visualisation affects the others and opens up new opportunities. They are being led, managing to evoke the diffuse light of their region, yet the music flows.
Little touches of bell-like percussion highlight “Sleeping, My Heart Awake”, while penultimate track “Tzei Lach” is a flurry of piano cascades. In fact, it is left to Omri to conclude the album with his solo piano take on “Yedid Nefesh”. His tone and touch are sublime and the rest of the group clearly understood that what this piece needed was just the piano. The album is replete with that sense of generosity and understating and is a joy for it. Quite when Yosef will decide to take a break, who knows; but Resisei Lyla is a glorious addition to his canon.
-Mr Olivetti-
